


Hear Me (Roar)

by Guntz



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Competing Alphas, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Non-consensual Medical Procedures, Omega!OFC, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Porn With Plot, Possessive Alphas, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Romance, Smut, m/f/m
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-05-19 08:15:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5960413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guntz/pseuds/Guntz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My first day as an intern in the prestigious Stark Tower was full of potential promises...</p><p>Only to land my sorry ass in trouble when I found myself caught between two <em>very interested</em> Alphas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Disastrous Affair (PART 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first try with A/B/O'verse culture... so please be gentle with me?

"Mina Beccan."

And that was me.

I wasted no time in picking up what little things I carried with me to my first day as an intern for the high-class tower that almost loomed over the entirety of New York City. I had only applied a few weeks ago, just simply sending in my résumé for anyone interested in a paper-pushing office girl like me. Sure, I was good with computers(and writing anecdotes to earn extras when some reports were too long, and I had nothing really better to do), but my main focus was more of being a secretary to a secretary. I could remember the complicated language of the caffeinated/decaffed drinks from a few blocks of the tower in case my superiors wanted drinks, I could organize the mess people would make when it came to filing papers, and I could even do a little of power point presentations that got straight to the point rather than beat around the bush like I knew most would do that it literally put Mr. Stark to sleep.  


Whatever the case, I was simply looking for a job, and I didn't expect the shiny tower that belittled us mere mortals that scurried around it to choose me!  So, here I was, approaching one of the thousands of offices to be given a proper meeting with my potential superior office manager and hopefully land myself a cubicle to begin my work.

Today was a dream come true in my goal to landing myself a good job.

An hour later after discussing how to get myself integrated in the fast-pace tower, along with getting handed a manual book in how most things functioned around here (and another manual dedicated to what to do when coming across an Avenger that was hanging around the office floors to pester the people working *cough* ~~Hawkeye~~ *cough*), I was being given a guide around the few couple floors by another paper-pusher.  


His name was Theo Daye, a young beta who also landed a lucky spot in the tower. He worked mostly as a techie in fixing frozen laptops and kicking out any virus/spams that popped up (with the help of Mr. Stark's AI, FRIDAY). He was a nice guy, kind of handsome if I was being really honest, but his scent told me that he was already taken. 

"And this is the R&D labs." Daye said when he lead me to another floor that focused on ideal solutions that would benefit not just the Stark Industries, but a potential for people that would get their hands on whatever they conjured up within a couple years.

"Whoa..." I felt like a little kid who was watching a Krispy Kreme donut-making machine from the other side of the glass. "This is so cool."

"I know what you mean." he agreed before spotting something in the lab, or someone, and waving like an adorable dork when a person in the lab gave a simple wave.

"Is that...?" I pointed at the blond woman dressed in an immaculate white lab coat, her hair pinned tightly and neatly behind her head, and her cool, steel eyes lightening up to see Daye.

"My alpha." Daye confirmed with a grin.

I gave the other woman on the other side a polite nod, and the alpha returned the favor before looking back to her work. Daye led me further ahead, another R&D lab that wasn't so restricted since I could see a couple people dressed casually and carrying drinks (covered, mind you) to their work desks. 

I stopped when I caught a scent, a little alarmed at the smell of an agitated alpha, but Daye eased my worries when he said, "This lab is more of a pheromone testing. They focus on what they could do to produce better products than the expensive stuff in the markets and all."

Omega's, like myself, had a hard time buying suppressants and camouflage perfume to keep rowdy alphas at bay. The Government conservatives and Churches cited that omegas should be left as they were, our scents to be exposed because it was wrong to take away what was given to us. Those were just a bunch of alphas and betas saying shit because they didn't have to worry about walking down the sidewalk while being cat-called, harassed, and assaulted by people who couldn't take the answer "no". It was terrifying to watch the news to see how many omegas got attacked, raped, and coerced into forced bonding's against their will.  


I was one of the few lucky ones, being always protected by my alpha mother until my friends took the mantle in looking after me all throughout school and college.

I had all my friends in speed-dial, at their insistence, in case I needed to make a quick call for them to immediately come running to my aid.

Daye gestured me to follow him when he saw how really curious I was, and I was greeted by a multitude of mixed senses that I almost felt dizzy from it all. After awhile of being surrounded by multiple scents from edgy alphas to fertile omegas, my nose began to dull.

Many of the betas (the most neutral of the triad) that worked with purpose and intent helped to make life better for people who really needed the pills, drugs, and perfumes to make their daily lives easier. The hell with what the people with power said, these were our bodies to control, not theirs. Me and Daye were listening to one woman, Tristy, I think her name was, babble excitedly about the types of flavors she wanted to make for little kids when they took the suppressants (because honestly, those stuff left a nasty taste in the mouth) when a shout of alarm startled us.

I whirled around, only to find myself splashed with some sort of liquid that was immediately absorbed by my dark designer blazer I wore. There was a moment of stunned silence, the person who crashed their stuff against me on the floor with a horrified look on his face. And then, the world returned to motion and people scrambled around to fix the mess.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" the man pushed himself hurriedly off the floor in order to assist me. I felt Daye and Tristy begin to hover me as their instinctive protectiveness over a distressed omega pushed their brains into gear. "Fucking loose shoelaces, I swear! I'm so, so sorry!"

"I-it's okay," I mumbled pathetically as I took the napkins Tristy provided from her work table to wipe at the wetness of my blazer. "Is there a bathroom I can go to?"

"Yeah," Daye said.

"Sorry!" the beta called to me one last time as he quickly picked up the fallen, broken glass cups that fell when he tripped and crashed them into me.

"Just take the hall down to the left, and just a couple doors away, there's a bathroom." Tristy pointed at the direction. "You want me to come with you?"

"No," I declined. "I can handle a little walk. Thank you."

"We'll clean this up and Daye will take you back to your tour."

I walked down the directions the perky woman pointed for me, pulling at the buttons of my blazer so I could slip it off and work in getting it and my dress shirt cleaned up properly. I hoped this stuff was easily to clean off and didn't leave bleached side-effects should I use my usual detergent in getting it properly cleaned.

Meanwhile, back in the R&D 2 lab, as Tristy watched Mark, the beta that had bumped into the newbie, clean up his mess from the floor, she spotted a label on the floor and reached for it. Because of the hours spent inside a room that was covered in so much scent of the three statuses, the people in the room really couldn't work out the differences. So, they had to label whatever they had to keep things separated and organized. So as Tristy looked at the label, her eyes widened to saucers when she recognized the serial number from what the liquids came from.

"Oh, shit." she said it loud enough that everyone stopped from the dread clearly read from the tone of her usually happy voice.

"What?" Mark said, still kneeling with a pan and brush in his hands. "What's wrong? Is that acid?! Oh God, please tell me it's not acid I spilled on her!"

"Oh, no," Tristy shook her head and she turned the label around so everyone could see. "This is _much_ worse."

Somewhere in the back of the lab, someone said, "Shit."

"I know." his partner said, agreeing after seeing the serial number.

"No," the other beta shook his head, eyes wide and skin turning white by the second. "I mean shit as in, I just saw that creepy alpha dude head that way twenty minutes ago."

A pause, and then—

"Oh, _shit_!"


	2. The Disastrous Affair (PART 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cute/Awkward/Romantic first impressions are _so_ overrated.

The only sound inside the restroom was the running water.

I scrubbed furiously against my designer blazer, my shirt taken off and leaving me topless with only a lacy white bra so I could wash it next. I blew back a dark strand of hair that escaped from the back of my ear, only for it to roll back over in my vision. I rolled my eyes but ignored it in favor of getting my blazer and buttoned shirt wiped clean from whatever stuff that guy accidentally spilled. I knew it was a simple little tumble and no one was hurt, but I still couldn't help being ticked off about it.

I had this uncanny luck where things that happened on my first day to daycare, to school, to a date, to even a party, would often result in something happening to me. Some brat threw glue on my neatly combed pig-tail that my mother had to spend hours cleaning my sticky hair as I cried, a kid barreled into me in the halls that left me colliding with a janitor carrying nasty bucket water that he used to mop the floors, a clumsy waitress spilled wine on my dress when I had been about to make a move on my date (who later left me for someone else), and I became an unfortunate casualty when a jealous girl had been aiming for her boyfriend by throwing glittery bombs at him (she had terrible aim).

What was about me that attracted things to spill on me? Was there some sort of karma magnet that left me with negativity that life just sought to, literally, put a damper on it? Whatever the case, I had to roll with it because those were answers only someone with knowledge of the secrets of the universe only knew (and wouldn't that be interesting to hear what their answer was?).

I was broken out of further mumbling over my little predicament when I heard the first door entrance of the bathroom door creak open, signaling the arrival of someone wanting to either freshen up or have a little tinkle in the toilets. A bit shy from being exposed with only my bra, even if it was just a bunch of ladies, it wouldn't do well for me to be seen like this as it would be unprofessional and weird. Quickly, I skittered inside a bathroom stall after closing the faucet and grabbing my shirt and blazer to hide inside and quickly dress myself to look more presentable. The lock was in place just as the second restroom door opened with the sound of a wide swing until it slowly latched shut.

And suddenly, the instinctive part of me told me to keep quiet. Sure, people didn't usually strike up conversations inside places like these unless it was between friends or there was an emergency (pads/tampons, suppressants), but there was something about this that made me keep absolutely still and quiet my breathing to hear what was going on the other side of my stall.

And I was given an answer when I heard heavy footsteps, so much unlike the usual clicking of high heels practically every women wore in the office floors (as R&D labs were required to wear sneakers for safety protocols while the rest of the upper floors were where the Avengers made their home).

My nose was still dull, having been exposed to nearly all kinds of pheromones inside the R&D 2 lab, but thinking back of whatever liquid that had been spilled on me... I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

There was a prowling alpha in the restroom!

My flight instincts were screaming at me to run, to get away, to find myself a safe and hidden place until the danger was gone, but I was trapped inside a bathroom stall with a fucking alpha—who was opening stalls in search for the owner of the scent that drew them here! It didn't help when my scent became a potent perfume of terror because then I heard stalls getting slammed open and the alpha's primitive growl echo inside the restroom that I couldn't help but let out out a frightened squeak. I could feel the stall next to mine bang open, the walls keeping them separated reverberating to leave my ears ringing.

Oh, God. They were coming for me! They were going to break down the stall, grab me, throw me down on the floor, rip off my clothes, and have their way with me as I screamed, clawed, and begged for mercy. I would be another number in the percentage of the omega category that got raped at their work place. Like the little child I felt when I had been afraid and couldn't bear to see what would happen to me, I huddled myself into the corner next to the toilet, turned away from the door, and covered my eyes as I heard my stall burst open from the alpha's urgency to find me.

I felt tears spill from my eyes, wetting the hands I used to cover my face as I awaited for the feel of claws digging into my arms and yanking me out by my hair or waist. I waited to feel my body collide against a sink, my mind dazed and frozen that I couldn't move. And then I waited for the alpha to loom over me, to get down to forcing my legs to open and sink into me, ignoring as I begged and cried for them to stop.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Then, a small pressure pressed against my shoulder, the touch coming as tentative and light. I still couldn't face what was behind me, my body tense for the attack on my person. Slowly, the touch grew until fingers were loosely wrapped around my upper arms, guiding me away from the corner of the stall and out into the open. My feet clacked nervously, too frightened to do anything but follow the alpha's lead. The fingers then turned into an arm that wrapped securely around my shoulder, pressing my body against the bigger alpha's side, and I was being led out of the bathroom and towards the exit. I still hadn't removed my hands from my face, I could still feel and slightly smell my tears falling and my body wracked with silent sobs.

 _'Where is this alpha taking me?'_   I wondered.

"Keep going, doll," a low voice murmured close to my ear, their tone gentle and soothing. "It's okay. You're doing great, just one step at a time. There ya go."

A hand that was still wrapped around my other shoulder rubbed up and down my arm, giving comfort to my terrified frame. I wanted to say something, to ask what they were doing, and why were they doing this, but a sob only escaped from me as I couldn't find words but tears to let out. The alpha hushed me, not unkindly, as they kept leading me until I heard the sound of an elevator. We stopped, and the alpha was speaking again, except louder (but quiet enough not to startle me).

"FRIDAY, can ya take us to Steve's floor? And give 'im a heads up, too."

"Right away, Sarge." the AI responded.

My mind went to a blank for a moment. There was an Avenger, or someone associated closely with them, and they were taking me to the upper floors where it was occupied by said group. Growing more bewildered with my fear coming down a little, I felt the elevator lift us up while the alpha continued to hold me close. After a minute, the elevator slowed down into a halt and the door opened up, and my slowly recovering nose was assaulted by the scent of another alpha.

Again, my fear returned like a crashing tidal wave.

Oh, God, I was gonna get gang-banged!

"Steve!" the alpha called out.

"Bucky?" the other alpha approached us, causing me to huddle deeper with the intent of wanting the ground to swallow me whole. "What are you—"

There was a pause, a sniff, and there was an angry, glutteral growl, similar to the one in the restroom stalls.

"Who's the one responsible for this?" the second alpha demanded, his voice tight and more grounded out.

"I dunno," the one still holding me pushed me inside, leading me further into the den. "But I'm gonna find 'em, and I'm gonna do them in _real good_ before anybody gets a chance in arresting this fucker."

Had I been bold enough, I would have stopped and demanded what the hell they were talking about. But I wasn't, so I kept to myself.

"Bucky," there was regret in the second alpha's voice. "As much as I would like to do the same, we can't. Just call Stark an—"

"Look, you can do what you want," the alpha pushed me to the couch, finally relinquishing their hold on me. "But I'm gonna get this bastard before he tries hurting someone again!"

With that, the alpha pulled away and headed back to the elevator and calling for the AI to head back down to the office floors to hunt... something.

After awhile, I heard the second alpha come around until they were in front, but it didn't feel like they were looming over me. Nervously, I moved a couple of my fingers away to see what was going on—and I found myself making eye-contact with the brightest blue-green eyes I had ever seen.

I was staring at Captain America.


	3. The Disastrous Affair (PART 3)

"Can you tell me your name?"

No answer.

"It's okay. You can take your time. When we apprehend the person responsible, we'll be notifying your superiors."

Stunned silence.

"I know this is hard to take in, but please trust me when I say you're gonna be okay. Who ever hurt you is not gonna get away with this. I promise you."

A pause.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Not even an hour in starting my first day at work and I was sitting on the couch of one Captain America who was calmly placating me, sending questions not too overwhelming for my shocked state, and keeping an arm's length distance so as to not scare me. Now that my sense of smell had returned, I was able to make out the smell permeating from my dress shirt and blazer: the scent of an overly aggressive alpha going borderline berserk mode. It was a scent often associated with abusers, rapists, and/or murderers. I remembered in my health classes, a teacher having brought a bottle in for all the omegas taking the class (a mandatory for anyone belonging to the weakest triad). He opened it up and waved it in the air, letting out the scent until everyone of us was exposed to the unrelenting, angry, viscous, and toxic smell. I could remember vividly a couple boys and girls running out the door, someone next to me puking from the fear that capture us all as we quaked in our skins.

It was a scent no omega (or any beta or lesser alpha) ever wanted to smell bearing down on them.

And that was just from the bottle.

The second I had the chance I was going to burn my blazer and shirt off the face of the earth, doing everyone (including myself) the favor of burning the horrible scent until there was nothing but smoke and ash. I wanted to take a long, hot shower to scrub my skin clean from my contaminated body, removing any and all evidence of the hateful scent that scent chills up and down my spine.

But first, I thought with a wince, I had to clear up this situation. I didn't want to have someone fired and beaten to a bloody pulp because of one alpha (the one who found me in the restroom stalls) who made it his mission to hunt down the ~~_nonexistent_~~ attacker that needed to be apprehended ASAP. I mentally groaned at the panic it would cause for the entire tower, omegas and betas completely paranoid and worried of the news about some alpha on the loose that stalked after the unsuspecting.

"I'm so going to be fired." I said before I could stop myself.

"Hey, hey," Captain America shook his head. "You're not in trouble. You are _definitely not_ in trouble because of what happened."

I had to cut the weed before it began to sprout further. I could just imagine the law suits aimed at me for disrupting and causing so much trouble for everyone because of this huge misunderstanding.

"No, sir, th-this is a mistake! It's kinda my fault for—" I tried to tell him about what had happened in the lab, but the superhero only cuts me off when he grabbed my wringing hands in his big, warm ones.

"It's not your fault!" he snapped vehemently. "Whoever hurt you for being the way your are is going to pay! Don't ever try to put this on yourself!"

My omega part swooned for being so taken care of by this big, strong, and protective alpha (the ideal kind of person most omegas would want in their lives), but I couldn't let this guy distract me from the big problem at hand. With a bold move, I inhaled sharply before letting out a sharp growl, catching the alpha off-guard and shocking him temporarily enough for me to have the chance to explain. Omegas, while not the strongest of the triad, were patient and people of opportunity (the element of surprise at our disposal).

"This," I nodded my head to the blazer I was wearing, my hands still held hostage by the alpha. "This is from a lab accident! They were working on the pheromones and some guy accidentally spilled this scent on me. And because all our noses were too dull to actually tell what it was, I was allowed to go out to find a restroom and wash it off!"

The alpha stared at me.

"And when I was washing it off, I heard someone coming in, but because I hadn't been wearing a shirt and blazer, I headed inside the stalls to get dressed. So imagine my surprise when I heard not a woman's six-inch heel but someone wearing goddamn heavy boots, scoping out the bathroom! So, being a vulnerable person trapped inside a stall, assumed the worse that there was an alpha on the prowl trying to find and attack me!"

He was gaping at me, all wide-eyed.

"So, please, call back your friend before he causes damage and I'll take whatever responsibility for whatever damage he may cause in terrifying the other employees of the building, and oh my God, I'm _so_ going to get fired big time for this!"

A pregnant pause.

"So... you're okay?" he asked, his voice tiny (so uncharacteristic from an alpha).

I nodded, awkward and unsure of why he was not rocketing off to call back his friend. "Yes. Other than possibly losing my job, yeah, pretty much okay."

The blond lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good."

"Captain Rogers?" the AI spoke up, startling us.

"Yes?"

"Sergeant Barnes is causing mayhem as we speak."

"Oh, shit!" I shot up to my feet, causing the alpha to fall back on his ass from kneeling too close to me. "I'm sorry, can you please take me to the R&D floor?"

"Right away, ma'am." FRIDAY replied easily and the elevator doors opened.

I entered inside, but I wasn't the only one. A large body joined me inside, standing next to me, but I said nothing since I knew nothing I could do would prevent an alpha from hurting other people when they were hunting for a specific target. Oh, God, I hoped there would come a day when I could actually look back at this and laugh, but not now. And not for a long while, either. A minute of going down, the elevators were open and I took a step back when I caught the scent of the angry alpha (not as potent or terrifying as the one stinking from my suit, but enough to spook me).

"Just stay here," the Captain told me. "I'll get him."

"No," I declined as I stepped out. "I'm responsible for this mess, I have to fix it before someone gets hurt."

Quickly removing the high heels and securing them under my arm, I quickly head towards the source with Captain America leading the way, and I couldn't help but admire his muscle back that was defined by the tight shirt he wore, but I quickly shook myself out of those thoughts. Not good to eye-candy someone, and besides, I was going to get in a lot of trouble that there was no way that I'd fix whatever damage the other alpha could have caused when stalking the halls for vengeance. The closer we came to the R&D 2 lab, I caught the sound of loud voices, and there was the scent of fear mixed with the anger hanging in the air. The Captain then bolted ahead of me, turning a sharp corner and disappearing for a bit until I too finally reached the corner. When I did, I halted to an abrupt stop to take in the scene.

The Captain had the alpha pinned to the wall, and getting a better look at him, he had long dark hair that reached his shoulders. And his eyes were a bright blue, brimming with anger as he snarled his pearly whites to sink his teeth into the throat of someone (not the one who was holding him back, though). What caught my attention the most, however, was the shiny metal arm with the red lone star tattooed on his upper arm, the metal prosthetic whirring and winding dangerously.

I couldn't help but gawk a little.

The Winter Soldier, an assassin that had been around for decades since the Cold War under his Soviet handlers until being handed over by HYDRA to begin a silent reign of terror. So far, people estimated he had over two dozen kills, but with superior skills like that, everyone said that this guy probably had a higher kill count than any serial killer in the world. The guy who put up a fight when he had been caught by a couple of the Avengers, kicking and shooting until he was finally cornered and dragged back to the tower. The media created a firestorm, people wanting justice, but Tony Stark telling the rest of the world to fuck off and leave a long-standing POW to recover peacefully from whatever tortures and horror he had been through. People were afraid, were angry, and they were glad that there was no Winter Soldier on the streets to terrify them... and I never expected to come across the guy myself.

I never expected for the Winter Soldier to hold me close, to whisper sweetly in my ear, to lead my where he thought was safe when I had been a crying mess.

And I never expected the Winter Soldier to look for my so-called attacker.

Speaking of which, I turned away from two struggling alphas to find a terrified crowd of onlookers, Daye and Tristy amongst them. There was also Daye's alpha, standing protectively in front of him as she glared fiercely at Barnes.

"Hey!" I went for the group. "Are you guys alright?!"

"Are you?!" Tristy shot back when she looked over my disheveled form. "Did that creep hurt you?!"

" _ME_?!" a loud voice boomed, making everyone whip their heads back to the growling long-haired brunet. "Don't go pointin' fingers when I can actually _smell_ whose been terrorizin' this dame!"

"Bucky's, there's been a big mistake." the Captain said to his companion, but the brunet only snorted.

"Jee, Steve, ya don't say!" the Winter Soldier scoffed, glaring straight at the group.

Not willing to have the people of the R&D labs bear the brunt of the Winter Soldier's anger, I stepped in forward to shield them. I would never forgive myself for getting everyone in trouble, especially when they all had been nice and patient with me on my first day, too.

"Look, there's been a misunderstanding." I explained to the brunet across from me, still pinned to the wall. "I didn't mean to cause much trouble."

"Why are you defending the asshole who left you in that state?!" the man shouted, angry and frustrated but not at all entirely on me. "Almost seventy years and nothing's fucking changed!"

"Bucky...!" the Captain tried again but was silenced when the other went on.

"It used to be a lot worse, ya know!" the alpha glared at me. "People would look the other way when alphas attacked omegas and betas, especially the omegas! They take 'em, hurt 'em, and then claim 'em and everyone would say it was the person's fault for not being escorted or some stupid shit excuses of why they were attacked! Everything is suppose to be better now! They actually punish people for hurting others!"

Everything was blurry, and it took me a moment to realize i was crying again. I had heard. Everyone heard. It was in history classes that everyone learned just how lucky we were to be born in this century, and while there was still an on-going battle about the right of the people to control their bodies (and flip the birds to anyone who said it should not be done), we were more better off than the old days. Days that allowed martial rape, when the lesser triad were treated like prizes and objects rather than people, and dark days when we acted more like animals than civilized people. My mother had fought tooth and nail to protect her friends when she had witnessed how horrible her alpha father treated her omega mother. It was from this trauma that she rose to defend and fight for the rights of the lesser triad (following after the people who forced their way into the political offices to make it happen).

"How could you stand by letting that person walk away with hurting you?!" the Winter Soldier demanded.

"Sarge, if it helps," the AI startled everyone. "There was no one besides Ms. Beccan entering the restroom, until your arrival."

A stunned pause.

"What?"

"That's what we've been trying to tell you!" Daye's alpha scowled at the duo across from us.

"There was an accident in the labs," Tristy spoke up before the brunet could say anything. "A simple spilling of pheromone chemicals on the lady, and _BOOM_ , your senses picked up the scent and came to these conclusions of an alpha threatening this little lady here."

And many eyes fell on my person. I wiped away the tears, beyond embarrassed and a little flustered that this escalated too quickly for my liking. So much for nipping the bud.

"I'm sorry everyone." I whimpered out pathetically, looking between the lab chemists and the Super Soldiers.

Someone offered a pitiful pat on the back.

"... _What_?" was all the alpha could say.

"What's going on here?" a new voice broke us out of the awkward silence, and we all found the head manager standing at the other end of the hallway, their nose in the air as she took in all the scents wafting through.

"Uhhh..." I provided unhelpfully, looking like a little kid my mother saw sneaking a dirty hand in the cookie jar.

Her eyes narrowed at me.

"You?"

I wringed my hands, unsure of what to do or say. "Uhh..."

"You're fired."

Whoop, there it is.


	4. The Interview (as done by Iron Man)

I stared blankly at the newspaper, job openings growing more and more difficult since I got fired from the Tower a week earlier.

It didn't help that there was a mark on my papers letting any potential bosses that I would meet that I had royally screwed up in the span of an hour when I had begun, leaving me floundering like a fish being thrown back into the ocean when the one who caught me didn't think I was good enough. I left the building with what little dignity I had, and I only broke down to tears of frustration when I closed the door of my apartment. I had been dressed in my best, eager to get started, only for that opportunity to go down the drain because of a simple misunderstanding... and I had no one but me to blame (well, maybe there was that guy who spilled it in the first place, but I had been the one to go out to the restroom when I could have washed up at some nearby sink).

It was so ridiculous that a simple spilling of chemicals could get me in such trouble! I was lucky that they weren't pressing charges for the disruption of the entire R&D floor.

"Well, nothing I can do." I muttered as I flipped the newspaper and tried looking for an expensive restaurant that was looking for hiring and gave really big tips to waitresses. Hopefully my efforts would promote me into a hostess that could organize planned and reserved dinners for customers.

Just as my fingers brushed against my phone, there was a knock on the door.

I didn't have any friends in the city, seeing as I moved here just a few months after graduating university. Maybe it was a neighbor asking around for milk or sugar. I stood up from the kitchen stool and made for the door, taking a quick peek and peephole, only to scramble back in surprise.

"What the fuck...?" I muttered until kicking myself into unlocking the door.

With the chain unlatched, I opened to see my most unusual guest yet.

Tony Stark

I stared at him, flabbergasted and bewildered to find one of the most wealthiest man alive, and let's not forget his part-time job as a hero that took on whatever baddie that came bouncing up to cause trouble for everyone in the world, standing outside my cozy little apartment door.

"Hi." he greeted easily like there was nothing totally wrong with this weird picture.

"Hi," I returned lamely, feeling flustered for being under dressed in only sleeping shorts, a long-sleeved hoodie shirt that nearly engulfed my fingers while he was dressed in an expensive Armani three piece suit.

"Mina Beccan, right?" he asked as he offered a hand.

"Yes, sir." I took it before looking around. "Um, w-would you like to come in...?"

He entered my domain, hands in his pockets while looking around my abode with curiosity hidden behind his dark shades. I closed the door and watched him walk through my living room, taking in the pictures and blankets hanging over my coach. I flushed from my room being messy, having been too depressed to clean up from being fired.

"I'm sorry," I said as I gathered the blankets and newspaper. "I didn't know I was having guests."

"Please. This place is much more shinier than my bedroom." he snorted before spotting the newspaper on the kitchen island. "Waitressing?"

I shrugged. "Not a lot to go on, sir."

"Tony." he said as he whipped his dark head to me. "Call me Tony."

"Mr. Stark." I compromised, not comfortable calling a multi-billionaire by his given name.

He looked around the apartment once before asking, "Is there a cat?"

"No, Mr. Stark." I replied as I looked around my home to see how in the world he would make such an assumption. Was there something about this place that screamed cat lover?

"You allergic to cats? To dogs?"

"N-no. I'm not allergic to pets." I scrunched my face, weirded out how out of hand this direction of conversation was going.

My main concern was why this man was in my home, not about answering his odd questions.

"Is that a record player?" Stark asked with a wide grin breaking out as he ventured close to the shelf that housed many discs (and Blu-Ray DVDS).

"Ah, yeah," I followed after him. "I just found it in a flea market and one of my friends can put music into the black discs, so..."

"You gotta get me that guy's number," the older man smirked. "I bet Capsicle would love that."

The mention of Captain America froze me, my eyes wide as I stared at the wall ahead while Stark dug through the custom-made discs of orchestrated version of Metallica, greatest hits of the Beatles, Journey, Carlos Santana, and Queen.

"Is this about what happened earlier that week?" I asked, hyper vigilant. "Oh, God! Are you here because you wanted to tell me in person that I'm being sued?!"

"What?" the man next to me raised a brow, lowering his glasses enough to reveal chocolate orbs giving me an assessing look. "Not at all. This is an interview."

I watched him place a disc of Metallica on the record player.

" _What_?"

The Call of Ktulu plays, violins and a gentle guitar strings filling the quiet apartment. Stark pulls away, hands back in his pockets as he listens to the music with a smile on his face.

"I just got back from a business trip to Tokyo last night, and usually I only see one Super Soldier sulking his way through the apartment, but to my surprise, I find _two_ Super Soldiers sulking their way through a miserable-looking breakfast. I had to get FRIDAY to tell me what happened."

I stared at the recording stand.

"They were moping about how they got some poor kid fired on her first day, and they were even trying to get the people to hire her back, but well, they had no business authority so, yeah. That didn't work out so well for them."

I felt both humbled and flattered.

"Pepper, my CEO, she used to be my PA. I also had JARVIS, until he became this sentient... _thing person_ with a cape, don't ask me why. Anyway, FRIDAY isn't really completely worked over with properly, so I gotta turn to people to carry out some stuff I need done." Stark pulled of his glasses as he listened to the ending of track, the drums and guitar started out low with the orchestra playing magically around the epic rock. "Would you still be interested in taking a job from the Tower as my PA?"

Slowly, my head rose and turned to meet the gaze of the older man.

"... Me?"

Stark bounced his head around before saying. "Yeah. You."

I made a noise, feeling a little faint.

"Are you for real?" I choked out.

"Yeah." he turned back to the record player. "You got great taste in music. I like you. Besides, it'll finally get those two human popsicles off their funk."

I couldn't believe I just got interviewed by Iron Man without noticing.


	5. Once more, but with more food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's like meeting an ex after awhile, except the part where you never dated and they got you in trouble in first place, so... 
> 
> This is awkward.

Two weeks after getting fired and re-hired, I'm back in the tower.

Following the re-hiring, I'm once again given a brochure and manual book, but this time (because I was Tony Stark's PA), I got a StarkTablet and StarkPhone to keep in touch with the big man and keep track of his ever-changing schedules. The second my StarkPhone had arrived in the mail, I got a call and was greeted by my new eccentric boss that wanted to check on me. It was a little overwhelming, and there was a lot of pressure considering this was Iron Man I was going to be dealing with, but if the guy liked me enough to hire me as his PA (the only one ever being his partner and girlfriend, Virginia Potts), I was not going to fail him.

E-mails sent to me by a very sympathetic Ms. Potts gave me tips on how to deal with Mr. Stark's mood-swings.

This was how I found myself having a battle with Mr. Stark when it came to his due board meeting he had in China.

"S-Sir, you're going to be late if you don't take a private jet from New York, to California, to Shanghai, China if you don't hurry in the next thirty minutes!" I tried to explain as I balanced a tablet in one hand and a stack of manila folders in the other while walking as fast as I could after the older male.

"Tell 'em I can't make it." Stark quipped as he climbed a small set of stairs. "Me and Brucie-Bear discovered a breakthrough in a clean energy project. Tell them this can be beneficial in the next scheduled board meeting I have with them."

"Next scheduled board meeting?" I echoed, pausing in my chase after the dark-haired man.

He waved his hands a little. "The one you'll be setting up, of course, Ms. Beccan."

I felt like I swallowed a frog.

"C'mon, kiddo." Stark beckoned me to follow him. "Lets get something to eat, I bet you're hungry."

"Sir, that's not—" my stomach answered for me in a series of small gurgles. I flushed, embarrassed, and bowed my head when the boss raised a brow at me.

"Peanut butter and jelly sound good to you?"

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Stark." I mumbled.

"Tony." he supplied, for the tenth time.

People were not kidding when Tony Stark was persistent in getting things what he wanted, and he wanted me to call him by his first name. I, however, remained stubborn in calling him in a professional level, no matter how comfortable I was getting in his strange but pleasant presence. I hid a smile when I saw the older man roll his eyes at me and head towards the elevator out of his private workshop and towards the common floor where the Avengers usually met up.

"Are you sure this is alright?" I asked quietly after a moment, unsure of walking into a den that belonged to a pack closely associated to one another.

It's a nerve-wracking experience for an omega that was stranger to venture near—never mind enter—a den where packs gathered to relax and bond. It was an invasion of privacy, and it borderline intimate to be in a place like that. The older man only gave me a smirk and ruffled my messy bun, drawing an irritated whine from me. I had worked on trying to tame my locks of sandy-brown hair, how dare he mess it up?

The elevator opened and my nose caught the scent of three people already inside: one omega, and two other betas. I reluctantly entered the floor, following close after my boss, head lowered submissively from the many scents covering the whole room. Whatever chatter there was quieted, and I knew they caught my scent.

I wanted to run back to the elevator.

"Hi, everyone. I hope you're all having a delightful meal straight out of the fridge I had to stock up every single four times out of the whole week." Stark greeted them with snark dripping on every word that came out of his fast-talking mouth.

"Stick it up a chimney." a new voice answered, slurred and tired.

"You only had to ask for my assistance in your times of need, Barton." Stark returned without missing a beat.

There was a low growl, but not biting enough to scare me. I looked over Stark's shoulder to find the three sitting at the table enjoying coffee, tea, and burnt toast with unscrambled eggs layered on top the toast. There was Clint Barton, the man every office floor feared for with his flying paperballs aiming at their unsuspected foreheads. He was pretty handsome, but even I could tell he was taken before I could smell him properly, he had that same air about him that my mother had. Next to him was a red-head I saw on the news paper known as Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow... and the most deadly omega to ever come across when you're working against her. And the last one, but not least, was the ruffled-looking scientist of gamma radiation, Dr. Bruce Banner.

A.K.A Mean Rage Machine Painted Green (Stark's words, not mine), The Hulk.

"Hello," he was the first to greet politely.

"Hello," I returned, growing less confidant the longer I stood behind Stark. "Sorry to come in."

"That's okay." Clint shrugged his shoulders. "You're the new Personal Assistant, right? You're gonna keep coming and going since Stark's got you working for him, so it's inevitable that you follow him here."

That was true, but still, I didn't like invading the spaces of a pack as organized as this one. Seeing my distress, the red-headed omega patted a small space for me to join her. Hesitantly, with Stark's okay as he crossed over the kitchen to get a couple of plates, I slid in a stool chair next to her. Not knowing what to say to keep the awkwardness that I had caused out, I tried to think of something to keep them occupied. Somehow, the woman next to me saw that and decided to go first.

"That tablet's new." she looked over my StarkTablet.

"What?" Barton narrowed his eyes on the item. "Stark, you shit! Did you give out another upgraded version before we could get our hands on one?!"

From there, the awkward air shifted into something a little close to comfortable. The two men bantered back and forth, Romanov curiously going through the tablet and giving back-handed compliments to the newer version I had been given (completely unawares of course). Banner remained in placid silence, simply sipping his tea while watching the chaos that was Hawkeye and Iron Man unfold before him. It was kind of funny to see this up close.

Just as Stark handed me a small stack of lightly toasted bread to begin our peanut butter and jelly spreading, the elevator doors opened. When I looked up, I froze, allowing a butter knife to escape my limp hold of it and clatter loudly on the shiny porcelain floor that silenced everything in the room.

Stepping out of the elevator were two of the three people I wasn't so eager to meet again. Sure, it's been two weeks, the incident was behind me, but I still had nightmares about the stalls being slammed open so violently, the frightening scent from my classroom days and the one coming from my blazer jacket (which had been destroyed), and I was beyond embarrassed for being the center of attention and blame by the office manager.

The two alphas also spotted me, halting in their steps the moment they saw me. The third man, the one they called the Falcon who often accompanied Captain America, stopped when he noticed his two fellow soldiers weren't following after him. Quickly spotting me, then looking back to the stiff duo, he immediately made a connection of some kind when his dark brows flew up to his hairline.

"Oh, shit. _This_ is the chick you guys got fired?"

All hell broke loose.

"Wait, what?!" Barton blurted out, suddenly ramrod in his seat as he looked over me with renewed interest. "You're the one?!"

His tactless behavior earned him a withered glare and slap on the shoulder by the red-head. Banner's only comment was a bowed head and trying to disappear from this whole spectacle by sipping his tea. Stark stood by my side, forming a sort of barrier to protect me from whatever would blow my way.

I couldn't stand being here any longer.

"I should go," I told Stark quietly, my appetite long gone.

"Hey, c'mon kid," my boss tried to dissuade me. "Just ignore these idiots, they don't know when to keep their mouths shut."

"You're garbage, Stark!!" came both their outcries. They were easily ignored.

"I'll eat another time." I declined, eager to leave the den while I still had what little dignity I had intact. "I need to reschedule your board meeting, send e-mails to Ms. Potts, so—"

I was interrupted when two hands, one of flesh and the other of metal, were placed on my shoulders. I went stiff, everything suddenly becoming a tunnel vision as I was like a deer caught in the headlights. The hand pressed me down, gently, until I was seated back in the stool I was getting up from.

"Stay," came a near silent request.

Seeing as I wasn't going to move, the hands slipped away from my shoulders. The brunette walked around my stool, looking over the contents on the island with quick assessment before picking up a clean butter knife and starting a small pile of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Tony and I were planning on munching on to appease our empty stomachs. Again, the awkward air returned, and I squirmed in my seat for wanting to get up and leave the den, but the Winter Soldier was blocking the path, and Captain America was standing nearby. The sound of a porcelain plate sliding across the surface of the table roused my attention, and sitting in front of me was a neatly stacked PB & J sandwiches. The taller brunette had pushed it up to me, and I stared at it, unsure of what to do.

"Well, thank you, Sergeant Barnes," Stark quipped as he stole a sandwich from the plate. "How awfully nice of you to do the work for us."

"Yeah, thanks a ton, Bucky." Barton sneaked one in, only to get his hand slapped away by the metal monstrosity that was the Winter Soldier's hand. "Dude, what gives?!"

"James didn't make those sandwiches for you." the scarlet-haired agent said, rolling her eyes as she took in her own breakfast.

Sergeant James "Bucky" Barnes pushed the plate from the grabby reaches of the other people occupying the table and towards my direction. Seeing opportunity to kick out the weirdness drifting in the air that choked the words down my mouth, I nodded thanks while grabbing a piece for myself. I shivered when I noticed a small change of scent, and I unwillingly looked up to the brunette to find him looking really pleased with himself.

"Hey, Steve, you coming to get a bite or what?" the Falcon, I think his name was Sam, called over his shoulder when he went into the kitchen to make his own breakfast.

The blond standing a little ways from the island and behind Barnes, looked toward between wanting to join our already full table or following after his other friend. He only went with Sam when I saw the Black Widow give him a dry look that spoke of something that would send the alpha simpering off. The Black Widow was so cool, I wished I could learn how to pull tricks like that— _any_ omega in the whole world, would. Taking another sandwich of the plate, I sat quietly while watching the rest do the activities of talking, joking, laughing, and snarking.

The only other person who remained quiet was the alpha standing near me, watching the plate of sandwiches disappear little by little with a small quirk at the corner of his lips.


	6. A cheesy pick-up line

Tony Stark was pretty fit and athletic for an old man that was closing in on his 50's.

After a disastrous morning run on a Saturday that forced me to keep close to my boss, I ended up staggering behind like some wounded gazelle that got winded after being chased by a cheetah. It was awful, embarrassing, and I was sweating buckets. I hadn't done so much exercising since my PE classes in high school, and that was nearly half a decade ago. Feeling the need to get myself sorted out and agile enough to keep with the older man ('cause seriously, how embarrassing is it to be outdone by an old guy twice your age?), I took advantage of the open gym that allowed anyone to use it. 

I was not surprised to find a giant swimming pool somewhere in the gym, a few agents swimming away like they were trying to outswim a shark.

Dressed in a too-big T-shirt and dark running shorts, I stepped inside an empty room where there was a whole line of treadmills. Picking one, I poked and prodded a couple of buttons, growing slowly flustered that the damn thing wouldn't cooperate with me.

"Are you freaking serious with me?" I muttered under my breath. "Just start, you dummy."

"I think you forgot to insert the key..." a voice spoke up from behind me.

Letting out a shriek and nearly jumping out of my skin, I stumbled off the treadmill, whirling around to find Captain America (Steve Rogers, I remembered his name from Stark,  _STEVE ROGERS_ ) standing a little ways from the punching bag. He was dressed in a white tank and dark gray sweatpants, his wrists covered in bandages and looking all sweaty and red from his work out. How did I not notice him? Seeing the confusion on my face (along with the subtle sniff my little nose made), he offered an explanation. 

"We just came off a mission..." was all he could say to a civilian like me.

Right. As a procedure for all soldiers working in military/governed factions, people were given stronger pills to erase their scents completely so not as to be caught in the battlefield. From what I could tell when I took in the Captain, it had to be really strong if I couldn't smell him at all, and that Super Soldier serum was suppose to drown away stuff that would affect any normal person like alcohol and drugs...

Yeah, the Avengers got the good stuff.

"They should have you lot wear bells around your necks if you're still wearing those, then." I joked, stepping back on the treadmill (and looking for the key Rogers mentioned).

"You think so?" he laughed as he rubbed the back of his head that I saw was incredibly boyish yet fitting for him.

My God, he was just too much. I gave a small fist pump in victory of succeeding in starting the machine when I inserted the key into place, the surface moving in a slow pace before picking up speed. Stepping off the foot rail, I started a walk until it grew into a light jog. Completely immersed in the machine and my brain going over a rescheduling to make time for the small jogging sessions that could improve in my early morning runs with the boss man, I failed to notice the other taking place on another treadmill beside me. It was only when I heard the beeping of a machine that didn't belong to mine did I finally see Rogers starting his own jog.

"That's cheating," my mouth blurted out before I could stop it. Surprised, the man looked at me with wide bright eyes and I was so stunned I nearly fell off the moving treadmill had I not caught myself in the last minute. "I-I mean, that didn't, shit! That did not come out right! I'm sorry, Mr. Rogers!"

I was blabbering, my face red and I wanted to run out the door but a snort stopped me short and I saw Rogers face broken with mirth shining brightly in his eyes. His dark brows were furrowed bit his lips were crooked with a forming smile he was trying so hard to hold back, his dimples forming and cheeks puffing a little.

"You need to let go a little, you know? And that's a lot coming from me." Rogers chuckled out.

I calmed a little, hearing him laugh made the omega in me preen a little at making an alpha laugh so easily despite my fumbles.

"So what do you mean by cheating?" he asked after calming somewhat.

Returning to my jogging after making sure that I wasn't jumbled enough to trip over myself, I answered him. "It's just, I heard how you and Wilson would go out for runs, and you would always pass him up several times before he could even complete a single lap."

He looked down at me with a contemplating look before saying, "Clint. Right?"

Barton was known to be a gossiper outside of his work. For being a super agent, the guy had a big mouth.

"Okay, so I run with Sam." Rogers nodded, looking ahead before returning his eyes to me. "So what?"

I give a pointed look, looking at the machine he was using, then back at him.

Not even a second and it clicks. "Ahhh..."

"Ahhh..." I returned with a playful look on my face.

"I see," he grinned.

"Poor Wilson..." I pouted, imagining the man gasping for air when he's being outdone by a man thrice his age.

Sharing a look, we both busted a gut, filling the gym with our raucous laughter. We calmed down eventually, getting back to business by jogging on our respective treadmills. Besides, he was probably working out in preparation for the next time he would head out in another mission, and I didn't want to keep him from his schedule any further. Yet even with this idea planted in my head, the man next to me diverged it when he opened his mouth.

"Do you come in here often?"

I stared at him, bug-eyed and speechless.

_'Did he just...?'_

Seeing my stunned expression, the larger male immediately back-tracked, becoming a stuttering mess just as I had a few minutes earlier when I had called him a cheater. His face turned a bright shade of read, lips twisting and words breaking and beginning but faltering all over.

"Oh, God! Sorry, jeez, I am so sorry! I know that face! I have seen it on Tony and Clint and Natasha—" he winced at his words. "Did I say something weird again? I always say stuff that means something totally different around here."

I couldn't help but let out a single high-pitched sound, my face bowing and leaning against the board of the treadmill, my shoulders trembling with silent laughter.

"You just used the most cheesiest pick-up line  _EVER_!" I choked out. "I can't believe you used that on me and not know it!"

I heard a huff come from the male next to me. "Can you blame me? There's more sex jokes than there are actual jokes."

That did not help me calm my laughing fit.

 


	7. Lord Knows You Got to Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First there was the dancing, then there was awkwardness, and finally there was something important that didn't have to be said.

Having an office for myself was fun. Sure, I had offices before, but there was other people I had to share with, or for a higher up that I had to be in close quarters for to give them a heads up for something important. Since becoming the secretary of the infamous Tony Stark, I was given sorts of privileges I thought I'd never get in a million years. So, over the week of getting my office sorted out, Tony had only been inside once before leaving the place after demanding that I bring my record player to the office.

The next day, to his delight, it was stationed at the corner of the office.

I swore he was like a little child that was throwing fits until things turned itself around to his satisfactory. 

The whole floor was empty, people already having left for home in their apartments. I was already done for the day, Tony dismissing me halfway through the day when there wasn't much to do. I took this as an opportunity to get my office assorted before work would return the next day to prevent me from doing anything. With Stark's hectic schedule and the people bombarding him with calls, demands, and other things that had to do with the SI business board, there was barely any room to breathe. It was moments like these that I needed to take advantage of, to sit back, relax, compose myself, and then eventually throw myself back into the fray.

With a couple boxes still waiting to be placed and shelved, I worked around the little office while slightly bobbing my head to the catchy Santana tunes, his electric guitar such a highlight of all of his musical work. My feet, without lifting the heels, slid across the carpet on my socked feet (oh c'mon, those carpets were soft beneath my feet (and I wore heels when someone important was inside with me) as I danced slightly to the beat. Lifting a couple books to shelve, I slid back across the carpet, jerking my head forehead in time when the drums would pronounce themselves loudly.

Twirling around at the last moment, I shelved the books before whirling around and making a silly walk back towards my desk, my feet light and my hands making wide arcs at same momentum with the song.

With another flourishing spin, I spread my legs and played an invisible guitar in my arms, head rocking it with my hair wildly bouncing behind and over me. I bend my back further with the guitar's high strings played out, my fingers twisting and wiggling as if mimicking Santana's talented ones.

"Any further and yer gonna fall back, doll."

"WHOA!" I actually tripped and fell flat on my butt, staring bug-eyed at the wall in front of me for a stunned moment until my eyes darted to the doorway.

Barnes stood at the door, dressed in jeans and a loose maroon shirt with sleeves rolled up near the elbow. Even with the loose shirt, it fit almost too snugly with his buff frame, his muscled biceps still bulging out with his arms crossed. I blushed when I saw the light look on his usually sullen face. From the entire time I had been working with Stark, Barnes rarely ever shared a smile with someone. It was sometimes hard to believe that he was the same man as the one I had read and seen in my middle school history text books. HYDRA had done terrible things, I heard people say, but they had done far much worse when there was only a shell of a man left behind from the original that Captain America had lost when on that dreadful Zola capture mission.

Sergeant Barnes was the longest standing POW, and it was a wonder to me (and probably the rest of the world) how he was able to still function as a human being. Just seeing the mirth dancing in his eyes to me was a miracle in itself.

With that somber thought, I pulled myself off the floor while combing fingers through my hair to push back the bangs from my vision. I walked over the record player, the music fading from the ending of the song, and I pushed the pin up so that it would cease the music altogether.

"Stark said you had one of these."

It took everything in me not to jump to roof from how close the voice came from. I didn't even hear him come close! The rumors weren't kidding about comparing this former assassin to a ghost walking amongst the living: unheard and unseen.

"Yeah," I nodded, a little nervous.

I was an omega, alone with an alpha that had been called the Winter Soldier by secretive agencies stationed all over the world, who the hell wouldn't be scared (Avengers not included)?

"Steve had one," Barnes said as he stared at the record player, his steely blue eyes drifting down to the stack of record discs.

"Oh yeah? What happened to it?" I asked lightly, and a little curious. This man barely talked, spoke a few words for a whole day before slinking off elsewhere. For him to talk to me, that was probably a big step for him to reach out to people, especially to strangers like me.

The bigger male winced. "Uh..."

Seeing that this was coming close to dangerously deep waters that he wasn't ready to tread on, I quickly backtracked and looked around the office for inspiration in change of topic. Barnes went through a lot of shit, and I'll be damned if I screwed things over because he suddenly was having issues of having a simple chit-chat. Spotting a couple of my still unpacked boxes just lying around in the background, I whipped my head back to Barnes so fast I was almost afraid I had broken it.

"Wanna help unpack?" I asked, loud and quick to cover his fumbling words.

Surprised and a little taken aback, the brunette slowly nodded. "Yeah... okay."

The next hour was spent between me and Barnes organizing my small office, exchanging words about what went on the den while I was off in the other places and stories about what other crazy stuff Stark got himself into when dealing with his work-life in the SI. Barnes snorted, never breaking out in full laughter, but it was enough to tell me that he was getting better and better at being a little more normal after every freaky and horrible thing that ever happened to him didn't come knocking down his doorstep. It made me wonder just how many therapists and doctors he had to see to finally break a little free from that lonely, dark place he spent over sixty years of his life in.

I was probably better off not knowing that.

"And~ we're done!" I announced, feeling pleased that everything was set up to my liking.

I was so pleased, in fact, I couldn't help but purr in content. I couldn't wait to tell my friends and family of my accomplishment (though I was gonna leave the details of the  _how_ part for them to just ponder over themselves) in becoming the new personal assistant of the Tony Stark aka Iron Man.

I blinked when a noise came from beside me.

The purring of omegas came from two different purposes: one was out of content and relaxation, and the other served as a sign of reassurance and safety for other people, significant others, and/or children. We were creatures of comfort (the issue of what kind of _comfort_  we omegas should fall under was still a heated debate), and while we were cautious people (for good reason), we were also people who looked after others. Children from young ages formed small packs (an ancient thing that stuck beside us from beginning to modern times), and there was always going to be the ones where you ran to for help when things at home weren't so great or there was no one to turn to when in a sticky situation.

So, when I purred out of pleased results in finishing my work, Barnes' alpha instinct bubbled up out of the need to take comfort.

That was how I found myself arms full of big alpha clammering up close and personal with his head tucked against my neck. His brawny arms wrapped around me while my own were awkwardly wrapped around his. It was intimidating to be so incredibly close to the alpha, and I knew I should pull away from him, but my instincts shot that idea down in favor of comforting the alpha. After a few seconds of gawking, I allowed myself to fully immerse in my instincts and purred more vocally rather than quietly. The alpha let out another noise, somewhere between a groan and a whimper, nuzzling further into the space of my neck to inhale the nearly absent scent. I almost wished I hadn't taken the suppressants if only to help Barnes, but I worked with what I had.

It was quite humbling, I thought as I pulled Barnes closer, that this man would turn to me when he had his closest friend and allies just a floor away to seek comfort from. After all, packs were formed for the reason of reliance and trust, something the other two triads needed when the third was absent.

Trust and comfort was something that had been deprived of this man after so many years of torture and violence, and I would do my best to give Barnes everything and anything to accomplish that.

 


	8. Beastly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like what it says in Newton's Law: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
> 
> Everyone just wished it wasn't this reaction.

"Do I look okay?" I asked after awhile of pressing down any  ~~non-existent~~ wrinkles down my white dress.

"Trust me," Pepper Potts circled around me with a reassuring smile on her freckled face. "You look wonderful. Now stop fussing with your dress and let's go."

I allowed myself to be led around by the taller ginger-haired woman, Ms. Potts taking the lead where there was a certain omega red-head waiting outside for us to join her. Greeting the woman, the three of us then headed out into the elevator where it would take us down to join the rest of the people that started to arrive to the Stark Tower.

An important gala, one that could not be avoided, no matter how much Stark pleaded to Ms. Potts and me (well, I was most likely about to succumb, but Ms. Potts stood firm that Stark was not going to skip this event out) for not to be bothered with politicians and people with military connections. It made me smile when I thought back to when Stark didn't even bat an eyelash when agreeing to charity events that had to do with people that desperately needed resources they had no money for. It most likely had to do with Bruce Banner, the man had been globe-trotting off in the world before being recalled by SHIELD.

(Dr. Banner would be absent from this event due to obviously not having a very good relationship with the military.)

(Thank God General Ross wasn't invited.)

"Chin up," was the last thing Romonov told me when the elevator slid up to reveal crowds of people in expensive suits and decorative uniforms.

I swallowed nervously when I smelled the overpopulated scent of alphas. I could just smell the bigotry coming off of them like waves, and from the corner of my eyes, I was surprised Romonov didn't even twitch her nose at the crowded smell. Sticking close to the alpha CEO that smelled much more comfortable than the rest of the crowds, Romonov and I trailed behind Ms. Potts. The red-head side-eyed the alphas that were getting a little too close for comfort when we passed by, and I almost wanted to freeze up when I felt someone brush against my arm that I just knew instinctively was not an accident. Sensing my inner conflicts, Romonov placed a hand on the small of my back and pushed me further to keep up with her slightly hurried gait, keeping up with the taller ginger-haired woman.

"God, not even a minute and I already want this over with." I muttered under my breath.

"Trust me, every one of us feels for you, too." she nodded her head at a direction and I followed it.

Rogers looked like he was on a battlefield than inside a fancy gala gathering. His bright blue eyes narrowed down, standing stiffly, and stoically shaking hands with big military officials while suffering through their drawling talks of something that made the normally friendly man want to reach out and wring their fat necks. Barnes, standing only a little away, looked pretty much exactly how the Winter Soldier appeared on the television screen when the media released footage of him after SHIELD's big information dump on the world wide network. It was like looking at a tightly wounded spring that was ready to pop up, but the warning looks he often got from Rogers and Wilson made the brunette keep his mouth shut and body rigidly go still. Wilson looked like he was ready to run to nearest window, spread his wings, and fly off into the sunset. 

But the sweet man wasn't cruel enough to leave Rogers and Barnes behind to face the garbage coming out of some ignorant white old guy who probably thought he was still living before the 1960's, given the way the asshole was looking at Wilson with not-so-subtle sneers.

It sucked ass, but at least I wasn't suffering alone.

Dodging another "accidental" bump, I finally reached my boss, who was in the middle of a one-sided conversation with a blabbering official, and Ms. Potts proceeded to be a mercy of angel by cutting through with the excuse of an important phonecall from Wakanda. After getting some distance from the man, Stark turned to Ms. Potts and just dropped his mask of apathy.

"Oh, God, I think I'm dying in here." the older man whines as he leaned against his taller girlfriend. "There so much fucking testosterone in the air that I think I'm actually choking from it!"

"You'll live." Romonov bluntly told him, but pressed a shoulder against him for support.

"I know, I know," Ms. Potts told Stark while pushing her peach-polished nails into the man's hair. "I wouldn't put you through these things if they could be avoided, but this one really couldn't be left aside, so you have to tough it out for now. For me."

"Think of it this way, Mr. Stark," I began when he wasn't responding. "The after party can be the time where we look back and make fun of how many people actually go around using the title Alpha General something or Alpha Corporal something..."

It was an old custom (something that had been around since the Romans), a status alphas proudly chucked around out of arrogance and the need to feel superior. Fuckboys and queen bees from my childhood would do this, and I shuddered at the memory of being almost aggressively confronted by an alpha girl who had felt wronged because I was apparently the little wet cunt that was getting her boy's attention (when in truth, the guy had caught scent of my coming of age and rudely commented how I smelled so ripe). Anyway, she demanded that I would always acknowledge her as the top, and that I would roll over for her for whenever I saw her. It was degrading and humiliating to feel so inferior because I had been born omega while she felt so powerful for the being the alpha that she put a title in front of her name.

(When mom got wind of this, she went True Alpha* on that girl so hard that girl never dared to lay eyes on me again.)

"I lost count after twelve of those." Stark said.

"Twenty-three from undercover." Romanov quipped.

Ms. Potts snorted, then said, "Eight, from today's conference."

We all let out a pleasant laugh, feeling a little higher in spirits from the easy flow that ran between us. It felt so simple being pulled in by these amazing people I admired from afar, thinking how powerful and untouchable they made themselves out to be on television screens and colorful newspapers... but the truth was, they were just so normal and real that it was becoming less difficult for me to feel like an outsider. Stark always came to my office, making small chat (and skipping meetings) to simply bask in the music of my record player that was spewing Led Zepplin. Barton made it his life mission to attack Stark with Nerf plastics after I had used my tablet as a shield to keep my boss from being pelted by bright little cylinder darts. Romanov and Dr. Banner were the go-to people to pour out my frustrations in words, telling them of the shitty people I had to meet or the crazy schedules I had to deal with because Stark was just bipolar with his decisions of what he wanted to do (and when). Ms. Potts was a Godsend, pointing out the things I could do when dealing with the responsibilities of being a billionaire's PA, always so patient and kind with me when things left me scatterbrained. Thor was big and loud, but he was a gentle giant that was considerate despite how small and weak us normal people were, viewing even _me_ as an equal to his godliness. Wilson was a sweetheart and another miracle that this world should feel blessed to have around, loyal and brimming like a ray of sunshine despite how shitty the day was going.

And then there was Rogers and Barnes.

Rogers was the living definition of a True Alpha, balancing politeness and equality perfectly that it was almost too good to be true (but with Captain America, anything could be true and honest). Barnes, despite all the nightmarish things he had faced with still missing holes in his memories, was just as kind and friendly as he was made out to be in Rogers' stories (and HYDRA would never have the chance to erase it again, not if Captain America and the Avengers had anything to say anything about it). The two alphas would somehow go out of their way to integrate and welcome me further into their personal circle despite my failed attempts to keep a professional front with them, sometimes still feeling a bit awkward since our first meeting. Ugh, Captain America with his disarming smiles, and Sergeant Barnes' somber yet friendly demeanor when we greeted each other...

"So how 'bout we ditch this lousy popsicle stand and—" whatever Stark was about to say was cut off when someone made a somewhat loud complaint about the lacking of meat-stuffed croissants no longer filling the nearby tables.

Ms. Potts looked like she was absolutely going to die from all this  ~~whining~~  commotion majority of the alphas were causing in such a crowded space.

"I got this." I told her, leaving the small group and braving the wave of assholes that were pretending to accidentally brush their hands on the small of my back, waist, and even near by unmarked collarbone. I let out a small growl of warning when some old fart got a little too close to my bonding glands.

I was in a right fury by the time I reached the mostly abandoned kitchen (Tony told his chefs to beat it for the night, not wanting to subject them in the horror that was a bunch of stuck-up pricks that measured their worth by said pricks). Locating the popular dish of brisket-filled croissants that was quick to disappear once it was placed on the food table, I grabbed another tray to bring along and turned to the kitchen entrance—only to find myself accosted by the appearance of an official-looking alpha. All the brass shining on his military decorated uniform, it almost blinded me. He was handsome, sure, but his predatory green eyes and sardonic smile made me bristle at my place on the other end of the kitchen.

"Sir, no one but staff is allowed back here." I said, hiding how nervous I was to be alone with a broad-shouldered and tall alpha.

"You looked like you could use some company." he drawled, completely ignoring my statement. I internally shivered when I saw his eyes roll over my form, not even bothering to be discreet about his mental undressing. "Stark really knows how to pick the most ripe of the crops."

I placed the trays down, preparing to do what I've been told to by my mother, my friends, my teachers, and society has told me to do when in a situation as this: fight or flight. The kitchen was a hallway away from the party, and I was worried that the crowds were making too much noise for anyone to hear me call out for help, and there was also the assorted kitchen knives I was nearby should things get really ugly.

"You need to leave." I said, backing away so to put space between me and him.

He made a mock-bemused expression, tilting his head to the side before shaking his head with a most unpleasant smile growing on his face. He came closer, looking more and more terrifying as he closed the gap between us.

"How 'bout I leave when you leave with me? I hear this place had got quite a lot of rooms for you and I to... get _comfortable_."

A snarl ripped through the kitchen air—and it didn't come from the douche-bag alpha in front of me. Startled, the alpha whirled around and immediately drew back a cautious step. It wasn't long when my nose was assaulted with the scent of a very pissed off alpha standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

Steve Rogers stalked after the retreating alpha, looking more bigger and much more terrifying than I ever could imagine. But this had to be the man the Nazis, HYDRA, and any enemy feared when against him. He wasn't just one of the top triads, he was a genetically-enhanced superhuman beast that was created for the purpose of war during WWII, hunting and decimating enemies of the Allied countries. A lot of people, including myself and the Avengers, often mistook Steve Rogers to be America's poster boy, forgetting that he was a soldier that went deep into darkness, cold, and isolation during battle.

It was scary to see just a glimpse of that darkness brimming out of the usually friendly alpha.

"Captain Roge—" the alpha didn't get a chance to finish because the next thing anyone in the kitchen knew, the Captain had a tight grip of the man on his throat and picked him up like a small sack of flour.

I gasped, backing away in fright as I watched helplessly from the sidelines.

"Mr. Rogers!" I squeaked, but I was ignored.

The small alpha choked, kicking his legs, but Rogers ignored them in favor of snarling into the man's terrified face. The smell of Rogers' rage, while not aimed directly at me, affected me. It wasn't like the terrifying smell of a berserk alpha, but it almost came close to one. I sank down to the kitchen floor, my back against a counter, my legs turning into jello as I was becoming frightened by the whole thing.

The kitchen door slammed open, and my head whipped to the entrance to find my boss and half of the people in the room crowding at the hallway.

"Steve, what the hell are you doing?!" Stark demanded, stepping towards the blond.

I yelped when Steve suddenly threw the alpha, almost knocking Stark down in the process. The despicable man crawled on his knees and hands like a pathetic dog, scrambling to get away from Rogers wrath.

"You should put a tighter leash on your beasts, Stark!" some man, probably a companion of the fleeing alpha, helped pick up the man while snarling at the multi-billionaire. "The same goes for your PA's wet cunt!"

The insult tossed my way proved to be a very big mistake on the man who threw it.

Rogers suddenly charged forwards in a fury, claws reaching for the alpha who said it. The older man tried to scramble away, the crowds almost blocking him as they, too, fled in terror that was the angry Super Soldier alpha. Stark, Wilson, and several other guests had to literally pile up on Rogers to stop him from ripping into the other alpha.

"Stevie! _CALM THE FUCK DOWN_!" Barnes shouted from somewhere in the crowd.

Things were getting out of control. I watched Rogers still giving chase after the two men (specifically the one who insulted me), and Barnes joining in on holding back the blond alpha, but Rogers' alpha instincts were heightening his strength and instinct. There was an idea on how to stop this, but I was scared to do it, especially after watching Rogers nearly choke the man to death.

Still, this whole mess started because of me.

(Again)

Allowing the distress and helplessness to permeate from me, I let out small, quiet whimpers and waited for the reaction. At first, no one could hear because of the noise, the struggling, but after a few moments, Rogers' ceased his struggling. I flinched when the tall blond snapped his attention to me, his alpha rage melting but the anger still lingered from him. The others noticed, reluctantly easing off of him as they too took in the scent.

Barnes started to take a step towards me but Rogers brushed past him, and I curled in more of myself when he towered over me. The blond knelt down, large hands (that were only moments ago curved with the intent to dig into flesh and rip open throats) hovering over me before easily plucking me up from my corner in the kitchen floor. I ducked my head into Rogers' throat, blocking out everything and everyone as I felt my body being carried away to whatever destination would serve as a safe den. Slowly, the bright lights grew dim, the coldness of the room left behind with warmth washing over me, and the familial smell of the Captain and Barnes filling the space.

I finally opened my eyes, seeing the whole room in a different light now that everything was dark, with the exception of the New York skyline illuminating from the giant window panes. I sniffed, still scared and overwhelmed with Rogers' unnecessary aggression. The man could've simply intimidated the other into leaving, he could have threatened to call security, he could have done something... not this.

Spooked when large palms started to move across my back, I trembled in his arms.

"... sorry." I heard a quiet murmur.

I shifted my head, feeling his chin on the crown of my hair.

"Sorry I scared you." he whispered. "I... I don't want you afraid of me. I'd never hurt you, Mina."

His hold of me tightened, hunching over like a chastised child. Whatever anger there was disappeared, replaced by the somberness that emitted from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> True Alpha (a term borrowed from MTV's Teen Wolf)
> 
> It's a term that the omegas brought up when an alpha isn't being a total domineering asshole who feels entitled of every establishment, person they come across: the alpha is actually respective and open-minded. It's like feminism, but with A/B/O influence.


	9. It's not You, It's Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotional talking is emotional

I slid the paper towards Stark before settling back in my seat.

The older man takes one look at the slip before his dark eyes dart back to me. "You know I don't like being handed things."

"I'm not handing it to you, Mr. Stark." I replied patiently, and I could see from the tone of my voice that it irked him since I could see a small tick appear on his locked jaw.

"So that's it." he stared at me. "You're just gonna quit."

I don't offer an answer, and it was telling enough. Stark let out a frustrated huff and picked himself up from behind his office desk. He stalks around the room for awhile, and I didn't even have to smell the irritation coming from him, I could simply  _feel_ it in the air. I blinked when I saw two hands resting on the armchair of the office seat I was occupying before gazing up to find two dark orbs boring holes into my own.

"You were scared," he began, his eyes meaningful and compassionate  ~~and fuck all the media who said that he was a narcissistic asshole who didn't give a shit about his employees~~. "That jackass crossed the line, but Cap stepped in before anything could happen."

I bowed my head.

"But... you're still afraid of what you saw Steve do." there was a pause. "You were probably more freaked out about what he was  _about_ to do next had FRIDAY not texted us what the hell was going on in the kitchen."

I shook my head.

"It's... it's not that." I muttered.

"Then please, share with the class kid."

I finally lifted my head up, but my eyes darted around the office rather than locking onto the man kneeling before me.

"It always come back to biology." I told him, giving a sad shake of my head. "We're moving ahead, everyone is trying so hard to make it more balanced between all three triads... but this is still a wall that still hasn't been knocked down. Just like the battle against social classes and the racism, this is just one of those things that still is going to haunt me for as long as I live in this body of mine.

"What happened in that kitchen just told me that I am not good enough. No, no," stopped Stark before he could open his mouth. "It's true. You know it's true. Why else would you constantly keep hiding your scent?"

His mouth clacked shut from his accusation that I immediately felt guilty for calling him out on it. From the entire time I had known Stark, not once could I properly get a scent of him; he was always hidden away from whatever pills and cologne he used to create an absent scent that made it ridiculously hard to pinpoint his place in the triad... and it only made sense that people would say he was probably an omega. The media didn't outright say it, but there was a lot of speculation that this powerful man who owned an international company could be brought down low should some wayward alpha, if given the chance, could actually make the older man get down on his belly like some little bitch.

There had been some incidents, when in the field of his Avenging duty, that opposite forces has tried to get Stark through means of drugging and such.

"I thought with this job I could do more, prove that I could overcome whatever life throws at me, but all I've proven is how troublesome it gets. First day in the Tower and I caused such a huge ruckus that I ended up getting fired for it... and now... I just know those assholes from the military are giving you shit because of the assault Rogers almost attempted. Those two incidents caused by an omega."

"Mina..." Stark pulled away, rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"Tell me I'm wrong." I said, almost daring him.

"Those alphas were wrong. That asshole, Major Fergus, he was crossing the line—"

"They're saying he was drunk, therefore he had no idea what he was doing." I cut him off.

"Hey," warm hands touched my own, and I looked down to find Stark's palms folded gently over mine. "Those assholes can claim all they want, but I know a friend in the military that will give them hell."

I ducked my head.

"It still doesn't change what happened."

It was quiet for a moment, before Stark spoke up with a question that made me pause.

"Do you blame Bucky and Steve?"

* * *

"What utter bullshit." Sam scowled at the television screen that blared about Captain America assaulting two officials over an omega's provocative behavior.

"Why does the media always gotta make out bigot, so-called tough alphas into victims of everything when they're getting cock-blocked?" Clint wondered out loud as he glared at the television.

"Because," Natasha combed her fingers through his sandy-colored hair as if he were her pet cat. "They're all idiots. Idiots breeds more idiocy, therefore idiocy spreads out."

"I'm blaming Aristotle for the whole naming of the hierarchy."

"Yeah, you would Stevie."

"Settle down, children." Bruce said from his place in the kitchen.

Thor went on to ask questions regarding the world's fascinating, odd, yet troubling nature of Midgard's inhabitants that were still warring over their biology long after Aristotle's damned philosophy of alpha superiority over the lesser triads, impoverished, and opposite gender. While that was happening, the elevator opened to reveal Tony as he sauntered over to where Bruce was, being largely ignored by the group.

"Why are they talking about dead Greeks? Did someone let the two grumpy old men watch History Channel again? I thought we agreed not to let that happen after the disaster called Titanic."

"Titanic was a movie—"

"A dramatic, Hollywood-hogwash account of how a giant boat got hit by an iceberg and sunk deep into the ocean after some idiot challenged God that He couldn't sink it. That's history."

Bruce let out a small huff, ducking his head down for a moment, almost bumping it across the marble surface of the kitchen table while his shoulders shook from the repressed urges to laugh out loud. After a minute of calming down, the scientist finally raised his head towards Tony, his amusement slowly ebbing away as he watched the engineer swallow his medication and gulping down the glass of water waiting for him. The background noise from the pack grew seemingly faint, leaving a small sense of quiet between the two older men as they sat around the illusion of content that seemed to be absent around Tony at the moment.

"How did it go?" Bruce finally asked.

"How do you think?" Tony answered with a question of his own.

The scientist offered a small pat on the back of the engineer's hand. "Sorry."

The apology only seemed to irritate the engineer as the corner of his lips curled into a brief sneer as his eyes gazed accusingly towards the kitchen where the incident had occurred prior a few nights ago. He could still see the terrified look and smell of Mina, and he had wanted nothing more than to rip her out of Steve's frightening hold over her as the blond alpha carried her to his private den. It was from FRIDAY's confirmation that he was relieved that nothing beyond than settling down on the couch had resulted in further damage to his poor PA.

Thinking back on all that, despite his pro-equality for all in the triad, Mina was probably better off somewhere else than here.

"I wanted to make a few calls, pull up some good people I knew that would take her in," Tony said as he slowly rotated the glass in his hands, watching the liquid swirl.

"Well, it's good to know she still has other options when it comes to taking care of herself." Bruce sagely nodded.

"Except the part where she refused and said she was moving back home."

Bruce briefly shut his eyes, rubbing at the bridge of his nose before looking back to the engineer. Any words that Bruce would have said would probably not help the predicament Tony felt he was incredibly responsible for. Bruce had to swallow back his frustrations and anger, willing the green bubbling force back down under, as he had wanted to shake Tony by the shoulders and tell him that he should never feel responsible for the actions of asshole alphas that should have known better. Bruce could still recall some stories he heard growing up from the older generation, always victim-blaming, shaming, and giving hell to the undeserving simply because of a person's place in the triad. Steve's recounting from his time growing up as a young, frail alpha sent chills down the beta's spine, his stomach rolling at the thought of a tiny Steve being constantly harassed, beaten, and threatened with rape from bigot alphas (and the occasional beta). It was by Bucky's presence that such a thing never came to fruition (and after Erksine's formula, no one ever challenged the former little guy from Brooklyn).

Tony's story, of course, was just as complicated when it came to his place...

"If there was one thing I hate about this world," Tony said as he drank down the rest of his glass. "Is that I have to live in the same space with people who think they can take an incredible young woman's dignity and stomp all over it until she's down—where they believe she belongs."

It was hard to protect people who least deserved the Avengers' power. Even harder to be in the same room as them when all they seemed to do was complain about Natasha's place in their group, despite her being clearly experienced on and off the field, or their subtle jabs towards both Rhodey and Sam (never mind their outstanding work in the military and VA). The curious case of Vision, the young Sokovian woman's change of heart, and Bucky's return from his horrifying days as a ex-HYDRA brainwashed assassin only further brought scorn upon the group of misfits.

The scientist carefully prepared the next words to offer to the other man when—

"Hey," Sam called out as he looked around the sofas. "Where's Bucky?"

A stunned silence followed the room, before Tony asked, "FRIDAY?"

"Sergeant Barnes just exited the Tower, Boss." the AI informed the whole group.

To no one's surprise, Steve leapt to his feet and headed straight for the elevator, ignoring Sam's calls as he disappeared behind the steel doors. Tony only stared at the elevator before his eyes darted back to Bruce's bespectacled gaze.

"Do you think it's a good idea for them to...?" Bruce gestured to where Bucky and Steve had formerly occupied the living space of the floor.

"It's alright." Tony shook of his friend's concern.

"Isn't she...?" Bruce didn't want to say it, but he didn't want to see the two soldiers return with downtrodden expressions that made him want to pull out blankets and his best tea to hopefully bring back their spirits after a horrible confrontation with the woman.

After all, from the two incidents she had inadvertently caused, Bucky and Steve were the very source of it.

"Believe me, they'll be okay." Tony said, his voice sounding final.

But, Bruce wondered, to who was Tony referring to when he said they would be alright?

* * *

_Knock Knock_

I paused from taking another bite of my homemade fettuccine shrimp pasta. I removed myself from my seat and went to the door, scenting it to find a familiar aroma waiting on the other side of the door. Without peeking through, I unchained the latch and opened the door to find Barnes waiting on the steps with his hands in his pocket and face somber.

Dressed up in jeans that almost hugged his muscled thighs, a dark shirt with army green sweater to cover his eye-popping prosthetic limb, I would have thought Barnes was another face in the sea of ordinary people. It was probably how he had used to live during the time after D.C. and before the near disaster that people almost dubbed the superhero's Civil War, and it made it kind of surreal for me to imagine that I could have been passing some extraordinary person when all they appeared to be was just some normal-looking individual out in the market to get some fresh fruits to take home with them.

"Hi," he greeted lamely, breaking me out of my thinking.

"Hi," I returned with just as much enthusiasm as the man before me.

 We just awkwardly stood there, the noise of the cars driving by taking away the silence.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked, stepping aside as I pulled the door open.

Barnes stared at the entrance with look between cautious and curious. He had only trusted the den that Rogers' came from, and slowly, the other dens the Avengers filled up. I was inviting a man who was constantly used and abused without any form of say of where he felt safe when off the field from his Winter Soldier days. Of course he would feel dubious of entering unknown dens that belonged to people he barely knew.

"You know what," I pulled away from the door. "Let me just change real quick and go—"

"No," Barnes gently cuts me off. "No. Sorry, yeah, I... I'd like to come in."

Slowly, I moved aside for him to see inside my home. The bigger male entered my abode, his nostrils flaring from the scent that permeated throughout my abode, and the taut in his body seemed to ease away as he stepped into my somewhat messy living space. I stepped around him, heading back to the kitchen where my dinner was still sitting.

"I should have come by later." Barnes murmured apologetically as he eyed my plate. "I didn't mean to disturb your meal."

"You didn't know." I told him. "Would you like a drink?"

He shook his head and I didn't offer him anything else. He smelled nervous, but from his relaxed posture, it wasn't because of my home that made him wary. I wrapped up my dinner and stuffed inside the fridge, no longer feeling hungry as I grew worried about his presence in my home.

"Barnes, are you alright?" I asked him, gently and calmly as I could procure.

The burly alpha made a small noise of disbelief, his brows scrunched and his frown twisting as he stared at the floor.

"That's a question I should be asking." he said as his steel blue eyes finally flicked up to meet my dark orbs.

_'Of course he was here to talk about what happened that night.'_

I let out a quiet sigh, moving until I was sitting down on one of the few sofas I could afford to buy. I didn't have to see to feel Barnes moving around until he was sitting right in front of me on top of the coffee table. His nearby presence seemed to engulf me, and I didn't have to physically touch him to somehow feel he was close to me, breathing him in that I felt a sense of calmness.

But the memories of a few nights ago made me feel shame, frustration, and disappointment.

"Steve's sorry about that night." Barnes spoke up quietly. "Everyone is."

"I... I know." I acknowledged.

"... and you know, nobody would let anything happen to you. Right?"

I knew where this was going. Barnes rarely ever left the Tower for anything, as he was sort of under house arrest after a few incidents, but as long as he was accompanied by an Avenger then he was allowed to walk the streets (just not leave the city). So, for him to risk getting into trouble by coming to my place without an escort was a pretty bold explanation of why he was here. The omega in me curled up like a cat, humming pleasantly as an alpha risked himself the trouble just to assure themselves that the omega was safe and content.

But...

"I know this probably sounds pretty stupid... but this isn't because of Steve or any of the rest of the guys... It's because of me."

Silence. Then—

"Yeah, you're right. That is dumb." Barnes agreed. 

I huffed, annoyed that Barnes was so persistent.

"Can't tell you how many times I heard a bunch of people make that excuse about being omega when it's clear about whose really at fault." Barnes' scathing tone made me bite my bottom lip in anger.

"Yeah, you would know wouldn't you?" I bit back, uncaring as I leaned back against the sofa while crossing my arms and refusing to look at the other man.

"Hey, doll, look at me." I glared at a framed photo hanging on the wall. "Please?"

I didn't give in, no matter how the voice turned from biting to pleading. I didn't give into the temptation of taking a small peek towards the man in front of me, I didn't twitch at the noise when the wood of the coffee table creaked, and I didn't blink when I felt something press against my knees.

I, however, jerked a little when two different hands framed around my jaw and motioned my head until I was looking directly into the intense gaze of the former Winter Soldier as he focused solely on me. He was on his knees, nestled against my legs as he held my face with as much care as he was capable of. His thumb stroked my cheek, feeling how soft it was against his digit while his other (metal) finger slowly trailed towards my chin... and my lips.

The smell in the air turned into something I've only heard stories from, or read in dime store romance novels. The main protagonist held in an embrace by some strong person, the air around them swaying between his/her scent until they locked up into a new and completely foreign smell... and then that's when the _heat_ started to—

" _Oh my God_!" I jumped away, shocking the both of us as I blurted out the words.

Wide-eyed and spooked, the alpha backed away from me, paling like a white sheet as his scent turned from alluring to fear. I had to quickly cut that bud before it got a chance to blossom into something nasty that I didn't want to leave him feeling regret and shame.

"I'm close to my month!" I explained, blushing in embarrassment that I was telling him this. "I'm sorry, but I, it's just... I'm going to be holed up for a week before I can move out of the city!"

My frantic barfing of words somewhat calmed the other man as he finally eased up from looking like he was going to bolt out the window like a mad man with hell on his heels. Barnes stared at the carpet where he was still kneeling until he finally willed himself to get up off the floor, and I knew that it was time for him to go.

The omega in me screamed, but I pushed it away. It was for the best. It had been nice to know Barnes in person than rely on how the media painted him. I followed him to the door, unlocking the latch but his hand came to rest on my shoulder before I could open the door.

"Mina," he threw a meaningful look, conveying unsaid words.

I knew what he wanted... what Rogers wanted... but how could I when all my stature did was cause so much trouble for everyone?

I opened the door, giving him my answer.

An answer which was blocked by a haggard-looking Steve Rogers.

"Rogers?" "Stevie?" Barnes and I stared at the tall blond in worry.

I jumped away when the bigger blond fell forward, Barnes barely catching him before letting him drop as soon as he saw almost a dozen darts sticking out of his back. I let out a yelp when something stuck itself on my arm, and I looked down to see a similar-looking dart embedded in my arm. I collapsed, my eyes growing dizzy as I watched Barnes also get hit with several darts and fall onto a heap on my floor.

The last thing I could see was blurry figures approach my open entrance before everything fell away.


	10. The Rattled Cage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER MATERIALS AHEAD!!
> 
> You touch, you die. ~ as written by Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes

When I woke, I felt lethargic, cold, and  _hot_.

"Subject is awake." said a cold, apathetic voice that sounded as if it was being said under water.

I blinked away the sleep and heaviness from my eyes, wincing at the bright lights that hovered over me. I tried to raise my hands, but they didn't want to move for some reason. I startled a little when I felt something, and a feeling of dread and fear lit up inside of me. My instincts, while foggy, seemed to whisper of  _danger_ and _intruder_. With all the strength I could muster, I forced myself to raise my head to see past the bright lights that seemed to blind me.

Only to find myself wishing I hadn't.

I was strapped onto a gurney with leather wrapped around my forearms and a large one tied over my chest. My clothes from what I had been wearing in the apartment had been stripped from me and replaced with a thin hospital gown that reached the middle of my thighs... and my legs were spread open with an unknown dressed in clinical clothes standing on the other side of my exposed lower half.

Instantly, I felt humiliation and embarrassment wash over me. Only few instances had people ever seen me naked, my mother (for when I was just a growing baby), locker room girls (after gym classes), and a doctor (one who I had felt comfortable with to have physical check-ups with). This person was a total stranger and they were looking at my intimate parts, their gloved fingers touching my lower lips as their icy gaze took in every image of it.

"Shall I put her under?" said a voice from beside me, feminine but just as apathetic as the first one.

"No need to waste dosage. It doesn't matter if the subject is asleep or awake." the man between my legs said.

I let out a cry, pulling at the leather bindings and wanting more than anything to kick the man away from my most intimate part. I felt violated and vulnerable than I had ever felt, moreso when that man, Fergus, had entered the kitchen with every intention to catch me alone.

"STOP!" I cried out, struggling fruitlessly. "STOP IT! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

I jerked when I felt fingers push into me, the foreign feeling causing me to freeze from shock. Then I let out a high-pitched scream, horrified that I was awake and enduring this humiliation with no one to stop them and save me. I wanted my mom, my pack, to crash through the doors and rip apart the man that was penetrating deeper into someplace that was sacred for me.

"Subject hasn't been breached. Odd." the man said.

I had heats, as any healthy omega had every month for less than a week. But when it came down to having a partner, I just couldn't bring myself to invite someone into my bed to do the deed. I was twenty-two-years-old and I still hadn't been penetrated or knotted... Not even in my most delirious heats did I go so far as to breach myself with fingers or toys, too reluctant to go deeper than a pleasant rub against my clit.

Now, now my choice was taken from me. The man in medical didn't flinch or blink at my screams, pleas, or crying as he pushed his fingers inside me. Even as my heat demanded that I wanted to be full and sated, the instinctual part recognized that I was in danger and pushed back my want for sex. My instincts demanded that my body first escape and survival.

And that's when I heard it: the screams of outrage and utter fury.

It was faint, barely catching any of the noise past my sobbing and cries. I looked to the side, trying to identify the source of noise until I came across a separate room that had a large window pane. On the other side, watching this whole thing I was going through, to my horror, were Rogers and Barnes. Both of them were strapped on a vertical metal bed with much stronger reinforcements that would keep even Super Soldiers in place. I felt my tears gather again, the shame of having this scene witnessed by the two alphas that I had grown to care for.

It was like I was a juvenile girl who posted something provocative on the web and my friends and families would see it.

I never wanted to be seen like this. I never wanted this image of myself to be burned in the minds of the two Super Soldiers... but here I was, and there they were.

I turned away in shame, crying as the man continued to poke, comment, and prod at me while Rogers and Barnes roared from the other room.

"Prepare to move the omega to the next room. The subject is showing signs of an incoming heat and we can test the experimental drugs on the subject."

I stiffened when the fingers removed themselves from my soaking core, feeling a small flash or relief before the words registered. Helplessly, the gurney I was strapped to began to move away from under the lights, and I spared one last look at the still screaming duo as they tried in vain to keep me from disappearing.

* * *

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! DON'T YOU FUCKIN' TOUCH HER! I'LL FUCKIN' RIP YER HEAD CLEAN OFF YA SHOULDERS AND SHIT DOWN YA FUCKIN' THROAT!"

Bucky, surprisingly, didn't lose the ability to curse something to hell and back even after sixty-something years of being a HYDRA tool.

"Goddammit!" Steve growled as he pushed against the restraints holding him.

Mina had disappeared through the doors after that sick bastard of a doctor had finished examining her. They could still hear her screams and sobs through the filter, hearing her begging for that man to stop touching her and breaching her. Seeing the whole thing made the blood in both alphas rage for swift retribution and murder in Mina's honor. Poor girl had been and seen enough shit, and it ate at Steve's insides for putting another round of horror and craziness in the girl's already problematic life.

The door of the room opened, and both alphas ceased their struggling to see the newcomers.

"Well, well, well," said some HYDRA goon, their accent thick through their effort in English. He was probably some sort of high-ranking official, well, as high-ranking as could be in the small base they were located in. "Nice to see a friendly face back where he belongs."

Steve and Bucky had only awoken when they were just being wheeled inside the underground base, watching the dying sun disappear beyond the mountains before they were ducked into some not-so-suspicious-looking cave. Tony would have probably snorted and commented how bad guys were getting a little too cliche nowadays with their hidden caves. But even as corny as it was, it was pretty effective.

And then they were placed inside the room, all white tiles surrounding them with only a big window that showed a medical bay. Bucky had swallowed nervously at the sight, paling at the thought that he would end up tied on a gurney where under the painful light he would be cut open and scrambled around again. Steve murmured reassurance that it wouldn't happen, that he would never let his best friend go through that horror a second time, but even Steve knew that this was growing to become less and less hopeful situation for them both.

Then, to their horror, they spotted Mina.

"What's the matter?" the HYDRA official smirked at the glaring pair. "Got a little bit of a dry spell? Did you even smell that one?"

Here, the two Super Soldiers growled murderously as the identified alpha gave an imitation of smelling something sweet in the air with a sick and twisted smile on his face. He chuckled as he turned to them, a tongue poking out as it slid across the bottom of his lips.

"She was so ripe..." he said quietly like he was sharing a secret for just the three of them to know. "When they're finished with her, maybe I'll have the opportunity to have a little fun for myself."

"You sick fuck...!" Bucky snarled as he fought his restraints.

"Don't YOU _TOUCH_ HER!" Steve shouted.

"But first," the man drew a sinister smile as he looked straight towards Bucky. "Let me give a proper welcoming to our Winter Soldier, eh?"

At this, they both froze in horror.

_"LONGING"_


End file.
